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Tag: Jega

  • Jega: new electoral chief can do the job

    Jega: new electoral chief can do the job

    FORMER Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega yesterday affirmed that his successor, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is capable of doing the job.

    He hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for picking Yakubu, who was cleared yesterday by the Senate for the position.

    Jega was delivering the first University of Abuja Public Lecture Series with the theme: “Electoral Reforms in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects”

    He adjudged the 2007 elections as manifestly the worst in the nation’s history.

    The former INEC boss expressed disappointment in  some politicians because of their mindset to electoral process.

     He said: “From my experience, I quite often say that Nigeria has a special breed of politicians (Nee: ‘Militicians’). They generally tend to believe that political power through elections has to be ‘captured’ and this has to be done by hook or by crook; and by any means necessary! To them, winning election is, literally, ‘a do-or-die’ affair.”

    Jega, who is now at the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano, said the sad development remained a formidable challenge for future electoral reforms.

    He said: “As long as politicians continue to have this unwholesome mindset, efforts at electoral reform and deepening democracy would remain constrained.

     “INEC faced perhaps its greatest challenge in containing the predisposition and reckless mindset of Nigerian politicians. Any wonder then, that our political arena increasingly resembled a bloody battlefield, with maiming, killing, burning, and unimaginable destruction of lives and property.”

    He added that navigating the “minefield” of “do-or-die” politicians as an impartial electoral umpire required nerves of steel.

    “Compliance with the laws and insisting on same and respect for due process, as well as being non-partisan and transparent, helped the commission in navigating this ‘minefield’,” Jega said.

     He advised government to ensure that security plays a wise role in future elections.

    The former INEC boss urged the youths to be interested in electoral reforms for a better country.

    He advised government to sustain the ongoing reforms in the electoral process and ensure that the players and other stakeholders abide by the rule at all time.

  • Politicians are INEC’s greatest problem – Jega

    Politicians are INEC’s greatest problem – Jega

    Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega Thursday expressed disappointment over the attitude of some politicians in the country.

    Jega described their mindset to electoral process as ‘predisposition and reckless.’

    He said: “From my experience, I quite often say that Nigeria has a special breed of politicians (Nee: ‘Militicians’). They generally tend to believe that political power through elections has to be “captured”, and this has to be done by hook or by crook; and by any means necessary! Them, winning election is, literally, “a do-or-die” affair.”

    Jega who is now at the Department of Political Science Bayero University, Kano said the sad development remained a formidable challenge for future reformation of the Nigerian electoral process adding that: “As long as politicians continue to have this unwholesome mindset, efforts at electoral reform and deepening democracy would remain constrained.”

    The ex-INEC boss who spoke in Abuja at the first University of Abuja Public Lecture Series, with the theme: Electoral Reforms in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects disclosed that the 2007 elections were manifestly the worst in Nigeria’s history.

    His words: “INEC faced perhaps its greatest challenge in containing the predisposition and reckless mindset of Nigerian politicians. Any wonder then, that our political arena increasingly resembled a bloody battlefield, with maiming, killing, burning, and unimaginable destruction of lives and property. Navigating the ‘minefield’ of ‘do-or-die’ politicians as an impartial electoral umpire required nerves of steel, and we had to quickly the requisite thick skin, as well as appropriate containment strategies.

    “Compliance with the laws and insisting on same and respect for due process, as well as being none partisan and transparent, helped the Commission in navigating this ‘minefield.”

    He advised government to ensure that security plays a wise roll in future elections.

    Jega said further that: “A series of badly conducted elections could create perpetual political instability and easily reverse the gains of democratization. If adequate care is not taken, badly conducted elections can totally undermine democratization and replace it with authoritarian rule, of the civilian or military varieties. At best, they can install inept and corrupt leadership that can herald, if not institutionalize bad governance. There are many illustrations or manifestations of this throughout Africa. But nowhere is this as amply illustrated as in the Nigerian case, especially between 1999 and 2007.

    “The 2007 elections were manifestly the worst in Nigeria’s history, as declared by both domestic and international observers. The EU observer mission, for example, noted that the elections fell “short of basic international standards”, and were characterized by violence and crude use of money to buy votes.

    “There was reckless mobilization of ethno-religious cleavages and heightened use of money and thugs to influence results. The pre-electoral processes, such as party primaries were conducted in grossly undemocratic fashion. In many cases, the results were said to have gone to the highest bidder. The winner of the presidential election, late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, himself admitted on the day of his inauguration, that there were serious flaws in the election that brought him to power.

    “There are also other associated challenges. For example, meeting the production deadlines in the production of PVCs was seriously affected by power failures, which damaged equipment, which the vendor could not quickly replace. The use of the SCR was constrained by the fact that some polling units are located in areas where there was no Internet coverage! Or in schools, which used as Super RACs, with no electricity to charge batteries and SCRs!”

    He urged the youths to be interested in the electoral reforms for a better country.

    Jega advised government to sustain the current ongoing reforms in the electoral process and ensure that the players and other stakeholders abide by the rule at all time.

    He commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the choice of his successor affirming that he can do the job.

     

  • Justice Abdulkadir Jega: A tribute

    Justice Abdulkadir Jega: A tribute

    In my career as a journalist, I have had to interface with all manners of newsmakers, particularly in the judiciary, my preferred area of interest. It was in pursuit of this self-inflicted pastime of reporting from the hallowed bowels of the courts, where lawyers slug it out to resolve the mystery of legal cases or at workshops, seminars or other learned conferences where they dig deep into the foundation, practice and interpretation of the Law, that I met Hon. Justice Abdulkadir Abubakar Jega, the immediate past Presiding Justice of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

    The erudite jurist was one of the numerous victims of the calamitous and unfortunate stampede that claimed many lives during the recently concluded 2015 annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

    I met Jega, who was dubbed NADECO judge, on account of his no-nonsense  posture, during his stint as the Judge at the Federal High Court, Fate Road, Ilorin, beginning from 1993.

    A cord of acquaintance was soon struck between Justice Jega and myself as with others like Kayode Abdul wahab of Thisday newspaper, Biodun Awani of the Daily Times and Emma Okere of Radio Nigeria as well as Tunde Oyekola of the Nigerian Tribune.

    Let me recall the case of Panat Nigeria Ltd Vs Kwara State Government, its Attorney-General and others. Not a judge given to frivolities, there was this particular sitting when the upright, downright and forthright Judge gave a ruling against the state government and some of its principal agents in very strong words on account of the way the sale of then Kwara State Feedmill (which was bought by Panat Nigeria Ltd) was handled and the case prosecuted.

    Of course, this writer reported the proceedings as contemporaneously and as detailed as possible the following morning, a development which led to his being invited by the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police, for allegedly reporting what was not contained in the record books of the court presided over by Jega.

    The former NBA President and Attorney-General of the bigger Ondo State, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, former Osun State Attorney-General, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN and Jimoh Lambo Akanbi, Esq, as he then was (Akanbi has since been invited to the Federal High Court where he has being holding sway in the last decade or so) as well as Tunde Olomu, Esq, then a State Counsel with the Kwara State Ministry of Justice, who participated in this prosecution of this case, would remember this very vividly.

    Following this ruling, which the state government considered harsh and unbecoming of a Judicial Officer, it found a way of hitting back at Jega: pronto, his Police Orderly was withdrawn. As early as 7.50 am the following day, the largely unruffled Jega called me (may he never call me again.) and asked about my whereabouts. I told him I was already in my office, some 10-minute drive to his court.

    He immediately “issued a subpoena” for me to come to his court before his 9.00 o’clock customary sitting time which he observed without fail. On getting there, the first thing I noticed was that his Police Orderly was not with him and I asked why to which he quipped: “Your people have withdrawn him, but I can assure you that will not prevent me from sitting.”

    Because of the sterling qualities inherent in him, the dandy and sartorial Jurist was soon elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench where he rose rapidly to become the Presiding Justice of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal until his demise in faraway Saudi Arabia recently.

    That was the stuff this Kebbi prince was made of. He was a quintessential judge who adorned his Bench with proven integrity, industry, character and learning as well as honour. He approached his job with humility and reverence, and if one may borrow the lingo of the law, he did justice to all who bow before the throne, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

    Painful as his death is, one is persuaded by the fact that the renowned Jurist and defender of the lowly and the oppressed lived a most fulfilled life fighting for the emancipation of the down-trodden, characteristic of the Jega dynasty, thereby leaving his giant steps on the sand of Judicial times.

    His sterling and robust contributions to the Judiciary and the administration of Justice will remain in the psyche of many as they will be written in indelible ink. While wishing the departed Jurist a most-deserved rest, I pray that God will grant the Judiciary, his primary constituency, the people of Kebbi Sate and the entire Jega dynasty the grace and the equanimity to bear the irreparable loss.

     

    • Olofintila writes from Lagos.

     

  • Buhari urged to sustain Jega’s legacy for credible polls

    Buhari urged to sustain Jega’s legacy for credible polls

    The Dean of Post-Graduate School at the University of Lagos(UNILAG), Prof Solomon Akinboye, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sustain the structures former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, laid down to enable the nation have credible elections.

    Akinboye, who spoke yesterday at the Heritage Excellence Award for Leadership and Independence Day symposium 2015, organised by The Heritage Plus Organisation, noted that the Buhari administration should go beyond Jega’s foundation to ensure that every vote counts.

    The expert said the government needed to ensure that Nigerians in the Diaspora were allowed to cast their votes.

    He urged President Buhari to also ensure that the few challenges electronic voting posed in the last general elections were rectified before another voting.

    Akinboye noted that to mitigate the impediments against full-blown democracy, governance should be based on the rule of law.

    He said: “We must ensure adherence to the rule of law in that the democratic system must be based strictly on the rule of law and not on arbitrary power by office holders. Government should be based on ‘impersonal law rather than on unpredictable victims of men’.

    “Democracy goes beyond holding elections, to include the empowerment of the poor masses to education, health care delivery, sustainable and reasonable income and other social amenities including, good roads, electricity and water. There must be popular participation in that people’s right to participate in governance should not be denied.

    “Individual liberties must be guaranteed; every citizen has certain fundamental rights, which must be protected. The protection of lives and properties must also be ensured because it remains a fundamental right which must be guaranteed because the democratic system cannot thrive well in the midst of violence and insecurity. Government has the primary responsibility to protect the lives and property of her citizens.”

    The professor noted that for Nigeria to attain full democracy, democracy should be the instrumentality of elections.

    Akinboye said: “We now have a god electoral process. The election has been conducted in free and fair manner, though democracy goes beyond elections.

    “After you have the free, fair and credible elections, the next thing is how you translate these into tangible things for the people. How do you provide dividends of democracy for people in terms of how to take care of their welfare, education, health facilities, employment opportunities, good roads and electricity? It is only after the government has been able to provide all these that we can talk of democracy.”

  • Jega resumes work at Plateau Varsity

    Jega resumes work at Plateau Varsity

    Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman, Governing Council, Plateau State University (PLASU), Bokkos on Thursday assumed work by inspecting some projects and presiding over the council’s meeting in Bokkos, near Jos.

    The projects inspected by the former INEC boss shortly after inauguration by Governor Simon Lalong, include the N114 million TETFund Lecture Halls and Office.

    Others are the N72 million Entrepreneurship Centre and the N69 million 250-capacity theatre.

    The university’s Acting Director of Works, Mr Aku Ayok, who took the council members round the projects, said most of the projects were TETFund’s with some completed while othersat near completion.

    The PLASU Vice Chancellor, Prof Doknan Sheni, said that the greatest challenge of the university was non-accreditation and funding.

    “A total of 319 of our students could not graduate last year due the issue of non-accreditation of our courses by NUC and we still have another set of 400 students in their final year, “ the VC lamented.

    Sheni said there was need for the rapid infrastructural development in the university and recruitment of the staff to meet up with the NUC accreditation.

    Jega, who expressed gratitude to the Plateau Government over the appointment, said that the university was founded on very lofty objectives with a very good mission and vision statements.

    According to him, the role of the council is defined by law and that it will do everything possible to see that staff worked together to stimulate the growth and development of the university.

  • NSE honours Jega

    The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has honoured the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, with a Special Merit Award, for his role in saving the last election from reputational damage.

    NSE President Mr Ademola Olorunfemi said the society appreciated Jega’s principles and focused leadership style which saved the country from an image crisis.

    “We appreciate Jega’s principled and focused leadership style which paid off after the elections. It is unforgettable how he redeemed Nigeria’s image within the comity of nations. Prof. Jega introduced technology in our electoral process and resisted the attempts to discredit it. He stood firm on integrity in the face of avalanche of intimidation and remained calm under unbridled last minute provocation. is innovation and courage are worthy of celebration, ’’ he said during the Society’s Third Quarterly Dinner and Conferment of Fellowship in Lagos.

    Olorunfemi noted that NSE dinners  served as veritable platforms for robust interaction among engineers and other professionals as well as major players in the various sectors of the economy.

    Besides Jega, other members of the society were also conferred with fellowship and merit award.

     

  • 2015 elections: I was not afraid – Jega

    2015 elections: I was not afraid – Jega

    The immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, said despite plans to scuttle the March general election, he was not afraid.

    Jega also said although a former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, came out to attack INEC, he said his team was determined to ensure the tabulation and announcement of poll results.

    He said contrary to some insinuations, the contract for the production of the card readers was almost three years before political permutations began.

    The former INEC chief spoke in an interview with ZERO TOLERANCE Magazine, which is an in-house publication of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Asked if he was afraid of his life during the poll, Jega said: “No! Anybody who is afraid for his life will not do this kind of job.

    “As you know, they say “death is a necessary end. It comes when it will come.”

    “So we did not best knowing that if God wills, people can drop and die; but as long we are alive, we will continue to do our best under all circumstances.”

    He said Orubebe did not succeed in scuttling the announcement of the presidential election results because INEC management team was determined to conclude the computation of the results.

    He said: “The fact of the matter is that all of us in INEC were determined to conduct free fair, credible and peaceful elections and by the time we came to collation it became evident that we had done our best professionally.

    “So, we were determined to ensure that no matter the provocation we would ensure that the results were tabulated and announced. There were all shots of allegations and accusations, but knew we had not done anything to warrant such allegations and accusations.”

    The erstwhile chairman of INEC defended the use of card reader and rated its success higher.

    He said it was an innovation that has come to stay.

     

  • 11 in race to succeed Jega

    11 in race to succeed Jega

    Who will be the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman?

    The question became more pertinent at the weekend, with more officials leaving the agency.

    Of the 13 National Commissioners, only four, including the Acting National Chairman, Mrs. Amina Zakari, remain in office.

    But of the four,  two (Mr. Chris Iyimoga and Amb. Mohammad Ahmad Wali) will complete their five-year tenure today.

    Zakari and Nwuruku will be left to run the commission.

    Also, about six of the 37 Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) have finished their terms of office.

    The development has heightened the lobbying for the commission’s chairman.

    The Presidency is shopping for credible candidates as INEC chairman and RECs.

    No fewer than 10 candidates are jostling to be chairman.

    Some of those being  speculated are: Mrs. Zakari; two former National Commissioners (Lai Olurode and Nuru Yakubu); the Director-General of INEC Electoral Institute, Prof. Abubakar Momoh; Mr. Festus Okoye ( a human rights activist); Mr. Mike Igini and three unnamed candidates.

    A retired Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammadu Uwais, who was the chairman of an Electoral Reform Committee raised by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, has been suggested for the job, but there is a snag: his age.

    The top contender for the coveted seat is Mrs. Zakari, a princess of Hadejia, Kano State in the Northwest.

    Besides coming from the same geopolitical zone with Jega, Mrs. Zakari is the first woman vying for the Chief Electoral Officer.

    It was gathered that there were issues on whether or not the President should appoint the INEC chairman from the North or the South.

    The last occupant of the office, Prof. Attahiru Jega, came from Kebbi State in the Northwest.

    The North-South dichotomy has placed a burden on the Presidency and made the race to succeed Jega keener, The Nation learnt.

    The geo-political breakdown of past INEC chairmen is as follows: Chief Eyo Esua (1964-1966)—Southsouth; Chief Michael Ani (1979)—Southsouth; Justice Victor Ovie-Whiskey (1983)—Southsouth; Prof. Eme Awa(1987-19890—South-East; Prof. Humphrey Nwosu (1989-1993)—Southeast; Prof. Okon Uya and Chief Sumner Dagogo-Jack (1994-1998)—-Southsouth; Justice Ephraim Akpate (1998-2000)—Southsouth; Prof. Abel Guobadia(2000—2005)—Southsouth; Prof. Maurice Iwu (2005-2010)—Southeast; and Prof. Attahiru Jega (2010-2015).

    A source said: “Of the six geo-political zones, only three have produced INEC chairman. The zones yet to produce one are: Northeast, Northcentral and Southwest. This is why ethnic or geo-political politics is beclouding the lobbying.

    “The decision will be tough for the President because his predecessor, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, opted for a Northerner as INEC chairman. This is a template which cannot be ignored. Jonathan might have copied the template from former President Ibrahim Babangida, the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha; and ex-Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar.

    “Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo however jettisoned the template when he appointed Guobadia and Iwu from the Southsouth and the Southeast.

     ”From the meticulous method Buhari has adopted in making appointments, merit and incorruptibility might be his yardsticks, irrespective of geo-political zones. Some of these candidates have started lobbying for the plum job. The search is, however, difficult by the standard set by Jega.

    “As for geopolitical zone, as long as Buhari gets a competent hand, he can still appoint a new INEC chairman from the Northwest. If you look at past successive chief electoral officers, a Southsouth candidate has replaced another.”

    Mrs. Zakari appears the aspirant to beat.

    Those backing her, mostly gender advocates,  are flaunting “her rich career experience, devotion to duty, grasp of the electoral process and her tutelage under Jega”, a source said, adding that: “these feminine advocates have taken their agitation to some UN organisations and embassies on why a woman should lead INEC for the first time.

    “But the reservations about her include her past service under a former FCT Minister, who is now a governor, her continued service in INEC after the expiration of her tenure on July 21, alleged illegality of her appointment as acting INEC chairman; opposition by PDP and mudslinging by some of her co-aspirants.”

    A Presidency source said President was yet to discuss his nominees for INEC.

    “So far, there is an acting chairman and contrary to some insinuations, the choice of Amina Zakari as acting chairman  is legal.”

    Section 318(4) of the Constitution states that ‘The Interpretation Act shall apply for the purpose of interpreting the provisions of this Constitution.’

    “Section 11 of the Interpretation Act empowers whoever can make a substantive appointment to appoint a person in an acting capacity. It is misleading to say that there is no provision for any acting capacity in INEC.”

    As of press time, it was gathered that the President would need to consult with the Council of State before appointing the next INEC chairman.

    “This means, President Buhari must do his homework very well in appointing the new INEC chairman and RECs. By Monday, only two National Commissioners will be in charge of INEC. Also, about six RECs are left nationwide,” a former National Commissioner said.

    “Section 154(3) of the 1999 Constitution empowers the President to consult the Council of State before appointing INEC chairman and National Commissioners.

    The section reads in part: “In exercising his powers to appoint a person as Chairman or member of INEC, National Judicial Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission or the National Population Commission, the President shall consult the Council of State.”

    Also, sections 14 and 15 of Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution states: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shall comprise the following members (a) a Chairman, who shall be the Chief Electoral Commissioner; and (b) twelve other members to be known as National Electoral Commissioners.

    “A member of the Commission shall be (a) non-partisan and a person of unquestionable integrity (b) be not less than 40 years of age in the case of the chairman and not less than 35 years of age in the case of the National Commissioners

    “There shall be for each state of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, a Resident Electoral Commissioner who shall (a ) be appointed by the President subject to  confirmation by the Senate (b) be a person of unquestionable integrity and shall not be a member of any political party and (c) not be less than 35 years of age.

    “The Commission shall have power to (a) organise , undertake  and supervise all elections to the offices of the President and Vice President, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, and to the membership of the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the Federation.”

  • Jega to receive Democracy Award

    Jega to receive Democracy Award

    The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has named the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, as one of the three recipients of its 2015 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award.Also to be honoured are US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Congressman Ed Royce (R-Calif.).

    The award ceremony is scheduled for September 29 in Washington D.C.

    Jega, according to IFES President and CEO Bill Sweeney, is being honoured for his handling of “Nigeria’s successful general elections in 2015.”

    “He deserves full credit for his efforts to increase the credibility and transparency of the electoral process under extreme logistical challenges, such as terrorist threats from Boko Haram, where failure could prove the catalyst for predicted election violence,” Sweeney added.

    Jega who has returned to teaching at the end of his tenure as INEC Chair said he is “deeply honoured to accept” the IFES award.

    He spoke highly of IFES’ long-standing partnership with INEC in preparation for the general elections which he said “resulted in a credible process accepted by Nigerian citizens and the international community.”

    “These elections have put Nigeria on the right path toward democratic stability,” he said.

    IFES, one of the world’s leading democratic institutions, seeks to protect the ballot box in more than 145 countries of the world.

    The Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards are presented each year to a Democrat, a Republican and a member of the international community who demonstrate the dedication to democracy and human rights embodied by the award’s namesake, former IFES Board of Directors Chairman Charles T. Manatt. Past international recipients include Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (2014); former President of the Federal Electoral Institute of Mexico Dr. Leonardo Valdés Zurita (2013); Kenyan gender advocate Maimuna Mwidau (2012); South African Judge Johann Kriegler (2011); and former Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ziad Baroud (2010).

  • Jega and the parody of the dark pot

    “Gratitude is what defines the humanity of the human being”-Elie Wiesel

    In a country that stands in defiance to normality and rationality, be it in the realm of the physical or spiritual, every theory and theorem in history books have had to be re-written to accommodate the peculiarity of Nigeria. From economics to law, as well as the sciences, none seem to be spared as events have reduced them to mere conjectures.

    An example is apt here: humans flying at nights from Sango in Southwest Nigeria to attend meetings inside a mango tree in Okija in the Southeast. Save the uniqueness of Nigeria, the gentry economist – whose name in those days makes males become feminists and females extremists in the gender-equality business – would never have fallen so deep in the space of public opinion.

    That a white edible food could be made from a dark pot still baffles our imaginations. So, the narrative of Moses and Pharaoh was not a mere thing of history confined to the holy books. That a government who loathes democratic process would appoint a disciplined, cerebral and upright man like Prof Attahiru Jega is a confirmation of the correctness of Moses’s adventure in Egypt.

    In an office previously occupied by feeble-minded men who submitted the noble mandate of electoral reforms and conducts to the whims and caprices of Abuja, Jega has shown the whole world that all hope is not lost in Nigeria. His conduct and disposition paved a way for sanity to prevail at the polls. With Jega, the lost confidence has been regained as those individuals who had written us off did not only have a rethink, but withdrew their misguided theorem.

    As Jega took a bow recently, it was imperative for President Muhammadu Buhari to make wide consultations on the appointment of a worthy successor as the country still has men of honour in abundance. If democracy is here to stay, continuity in ideology and diligence at par with that of the Bayero academic must be the only yardstick.

    Jega’s handling of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was a never-ending battle between vision and mission; while vision stretches over time, its counterpart works on immediate gains. That the professor managed both is a testament to his administrative acumen as a man of the moment.  His mission to conduct free, fair and credible elections was accomplished while his vision to strengthening the commission to become a force to reckon with among our national institutions was not left in abeyance.

    In 2011, the first set of national elections was cancelled due to issues that showed the naivety of INEC which not only made Nigerians lose confidence in the process,  but made them fume at the enormous resources that was spent on that futile exercise. Now we know that that singular decision by Jega and his team was a calculated attempt aimed at strengthening the electoral body.

    That this year’s elections was a better exercise than 2011 is no doubt. What better way to prove one’s worth by working to avoid previous mistakes? Election after election, poll after poll, it was evident Jega was hell-bent on making a bold statement that we can get it right in Nigeria.

    With the introduction of the permanent voters’ card (PVC) and electronic card readers, Jega succeeded in making the voting process credible and largely hitch-free. Although he takes a bow while the job at INEC is still far from perfection, only the blind would fail to see that Jega left INEC better than he met it.That alone is a consolation.And as the noble prophet of Islam (SAW) said: “he who is not grateful to man will definitely not be grateful to God.”Having faithfully served Nigeria in the line of duty, you are hereby discharged and acquitted.

     

    •Modiu is a Corps member, NYSC ILORIN